USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - Book On Priest Identity Published By USCCB'S Father David Toups

Book On Priest Identity Published By USCCB'S Father David Toups

WASHINGTON-Father David L. Toups, associate director at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, has published a book on priests' identity amidst the contemporary crises that affect ministry today.

Reclaiming Our Priestly Character offers a review of the present crisis surrounding priestly identity through careful theological scholarship and a wise practical spirituality, providing a clear path toward the renewal of the priestly character, according to information provided by the publisher, the Institute for Priestly Formation at Omaha's Creighton University.

In his 216-page book Father Toups looks at the cultural upheaval that followed the Second Vatican Council and suggests that it led to confusion about the distinctive role of the priest among laity and even among clergy themselves.

The book suggests ways to keep a priest's life from becoming routine, to deal with frustrations and disappointments, and to pattern one's life after Jesus.

Several church leaders endorsed the book, including Cardinal Avery Dulles, a leading theologian.

"If the priesthood is to be renewed - and it surely must be - the renewal must take the form described by Father Toups," Cardinal Dulles said.

Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of Baltimore, an experienced seminary rector, called the book "a most valuable and spiritually enriching reflection on today's priesthood," and added, "I could not recommend this work more highly."

Father Toups was ordained for the Diocese of Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida. He studied for the priesthood at North American College, in Rome, and holds a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum).